Doing freebie articles and blog posts is often derided as a terrible move for your writing or consulting career, and often considered a devaluing of your trade. But sometimes you should take off your Serious Ethics hat and try giving away your thoughts.

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Ann Friedman writes at the Columbia Journalism Review about her own dilemma in wanting to get paid for her work as a freelance writer, yet sometimes wanting to get certain pieces into certain venues, no matter the cost. She lays out what seems like a simple two-step test to determine if it's worth the sweat of your word processor to post for free. One of them:

I, for example, make these silly, hand-drawn charts, which I publish at The Hairpin. This is something I do for fun, and I'd make these pie charts whether or not anyone wanted to publish them. After I published a few and people seemed to like them, I made it a goal to find a publication to pay me for similar work. And I did-a monthly magazine commissioned me to do a recurring chart feature for its front-of-book. It's a paid gig I never would have gotten without an unpaid one.